Conclusion: it is cattle breeding, a non-existent sewage treatment plant and non-compliant septic tanks that are at issue here, not pig farming. You will find a link to the full report at the bottom of the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quickly detect pollution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
During a week in November 2020, the Foundation team took 68 water samples going up the Loutre and Petite rivi\u00e8re Blanche rivers and then subjected them to bacterial analysis with a rapid water quality analysis device. the water that gives results in 15 minutes<\/strong>. As they detected peaks of contamination, the Fondation Rivi\u00e8res team traveled up the waterways and was able to identify exactly the sources of pollution in the two rivers. The Foundation team had to be resourceful in order to install the laboratory on the ground!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doctoral student Rose Ragot from the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) accompanied us in the field and carried out analyzes of the mitochondrial DNA of the samples in order to establish the origin of the E. Coli<\/em>. She also carried out traditional analyzes by enumeration<\/a>, just to allow us to determine the precise quantity of E. Coli<\/em> in water. Rose accompanied us because she needed, for her doctorate, to test a marker specific to pork pollution. Sad for her, but she didn't find one... <\/p>\n\n\n\n This study made it possible to detect peaks in fecal contamination in several locations, as well as their origin. And contrary to the initial hypothesis, this contamination came from a sewer network without a purification system, septic tanks and cattle breeding<\/strong>s! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, around the municipality of Fug\u00e8reville, it was possible to follow the contamination gradient by taking samples further and further upstream of a tributary of the Rivi\u00e8re \u00e0 la Loutre, to then arrive at the point of discharge of 'waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, contamination associated with the presence of cattle farming was detected near six sampled sites: is it also spreading? Or do we let cows drink from streams? The question remains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for pig farms, although located near watercourses, they were only responsible for a single contamination peak out of the 68 samples. If pig slurry does not run off into rivers, this could perhaps be linked to the fact that Olymel injects the slurry into the ground instead of spreading it on the surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In T\u00e9miscamingue, we have already taken action. The OBVT raised awareness among local stakeholders and began to implement the main recommendations of the report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, these are unexpected conclusions which say a lot about the importance of good practices in wastewater management, but also in agricultural spreading techniques. So you shouldn't trust appearances! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"D\u00e9pistage](\"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Depistage_OBVT_1-scaled-1-300x169.jpg\")
![\"D\u00e9pistage](\"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Capture-de\u0301cran-le-2022-10-21-a\u0300-14.28.33-225x300.jpg\")
An unexpected main source <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"D\u00e9pistage](\"https:\/\/fondationrivieres.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Riviere_Loutre_amont1-300x224.png\")
Take action <\/h2>\n\n\n\n